A Couple More Rugs

Here are pictures of a couple more rugs that I've made over the years. The first one was a pattern in Create & Decorate magazine - they showed it as a penny rug, but I enlarged it and hooked the design. I've always loved alphabet samplers so it was fun to make this rug.

If you look closely you can see that I hooked the background behind each motif with a wool that was similar but different to add a subtle detail.

A Favorite Quilt

I belong to a quilt group that has been meeting together monthly for over 15 years now - we take turns hosting the meetings in our homes and/or yards, and sometimes meet at a restaurant during the holidays. This quilt was made by my friends in this group - I had chosen the theme of "Home is Where Your Story Begins" and asked each person to make a block that represented that theme to them. I chose the color palette so that all the blocks would coordinate when completed, and this is what they came up with. Some of the stories that they told.

• Jackie's family spent a lot of time in a canoe at a local lake so she made Crossed Canoes.
• Kathy's family had 7 children so she made a 9-patch to represent each person, and paper pieced a small house for the center block to represent their home.
• Kaye lives in a log cabin currently.
• Carole stitched up a 'family tree' growing out of a heart.

I stitched the 'theme' block, made a couple more blocks to make the quilt bigger, plus added some applique details. The best thing about this quilt is that when I look at it I remember all the friends who contributed to it and bask in their longstanding friendship!


It's interesting to see how we have all evolved over the years. In the beginning we were all stitching miniature paper-pieced quilts. Now we have a doll maker, a jewelry maker, an art quilter (or two) and a rug hooker.

New Rug Project

I know I'm not the only rug hooker who flits from one project to the next! Last time I shared pictures of the stair rugs I was working on. Then I went to Portugal, and when I got home I decided to make a memory rug and I set the stair rugs aside for awhile. The people we stayed with own about 30 horses so I'm hooking a horse rug - and in the corners I will add a detail of a cobblestone street corner that I saw and loved. There are about 6-7 different dark green wools used in the background on this - I like that there are so many different textures and shades - and I added some movement by hooking swirls and curves. I've far exceeded the minimum hooking time for the 10-minute challenge in the last three days.

Quilts, Quilts, and more Quilts!

Awhile ago when I was visiting with my friend Marliss, we were talking about gardening - she mentioned that her neighbor had received an award for the most beautiful yard in their city - then she mentioned that this same neighbor was a quilter. Well, with a combination like that I couldn't resist asking her if she could get me an invite to go see all the goodies. Last night was the night. Melanie's home is beautiful and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting her and seeing her quilts - I'll let them speak for themselves....... Her father made all her shelves and quilt racks -




Melanie used a Buggy Barn pattern to make this quilt top that she uses for a curtain on her sliding glass door - so clever! And she made a matching valance for over the sink - I love it!


And this is the only wool project that she had - she bought it as a kit at a local quilt store and did a great job on it - I love that the hanger matches perfectly with the star motif. The spirals are needle felted with wool roving. We tried to talk her into becoming a rug hooker so she could work with wool more often - maybe we planted a seed......

Primitive Eye Candy

A couple days ago I was reading Blackbird Designs blog and followed a link to the website for a store called Calico Moon. They have a gal on staff who is a rug hooker and does some beautiful stuff. Besides pictures of her rugs, there are pictures of the studio, the store, and pictures of her home - lots of eye candy. (I see a picture of a sheep weather vane that would make a great addition to my collection!) Maybe we can all start a write in campaign and ask her to start blogging - I'm sure she'd be good at it and very inspirational for the rest of us! Anyway, check it out - I think you'll enjoy it!

Addition To My Sheep Collection

I stopped at Dollar Tree on my way home from the gym today so I could get a few items to make a simple necklace that I've been wanting to make. I was so tickled to see they had received a shipment of resin animals - and the best one was a cute black-faced wooly sheep! Since I'm a rug hooker I'm very partial to these critters, and have collected quite an assortment of them to display in my studio. I might have to go back and get a few more so they can be used at door prizes for our upcoming Utah hook in next month. Here is a picture of my newest one, and then more pictures of the rest of my collection - some handmade - and some manufactured.

Springville Quilt Show

Last week I attended the annual quilt show in Springville - the quilts are always amazing. A lot of them are art quilts - I can admire the workmanship and creativity of these, but they're not something I'd ever want to make for use in my own home. Here are pictures of just a couple quilts that appealed to me. Enjoy.